› added 10 years ago

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TIL that human poop and farts get their foul smell from the chemical compounds Skatole and Indole (among others). At low concentrations, these compounds smell flowery, and are used in perfumes. USA and Israel have used Skatole in crowd control sprays—the stench does not wash off skin for 3 days.

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via reddit.com

5Ojn TIL there is a 1500 foot long spiral coil jutting into The Great Salt Lake that is only visible during droughts and has only been visible on three occasions since it was built in 1970
D1KaV TIL R Kelly sung in Ethiopia asking if the girls in the crowd had their shots, their passports, and if they did if they would like to come back with him to America.
Brknd TIL: Most social media negatively impact the mental health of teenagers, particular girls. This has led to increasing suicide rates and depression. The worst offender found is Instagram in 2017 and institutions have tried have a warning label on images that have been Photoshopped or edited.
gAj7 TIL that the U.S. government produced 500,000 Purple Heart medals to prepare for the 1945 invasion of Japan. When the operation never took place, the medals were placed in storage and distributed. All military action since then (including Korea and Vietnam) still has not depleted the supply.
XE6gE TIL Hu Yaobang, whose funeral triggered the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, wanted to have Tibetans and Uyghurs govern themselves, supported improved Sino-Japanese relations, investigated party nepotism/corruption, and was forced to resign as General Secretary for not silencing student protests